Fort Carson – A CIA agent testified Wednesday that a Fort Carson soldier accused of murder admitted that he was “pretty sure they were breaking the rules every day” when interrogating Iraqi detainees.
The agent, who testified behind an Army green curtain to protect his identity, said Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. admitted in November 2003 that he was aware of an Oct. 12, 2003, memo from Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who at the time commanded U.S. ground forces in Iraq, that outlined the rules of engagement for interrogating detainees.
Welshofer is accused of asphyxiating Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Mowhoush on Nov. 26, 2003, by placing a sleeping bag over his head, wrapping him in electrical cord, sitting on his chest and covering his mouth.
The technique – a stress position – is designed to raise fear in hopes that a detainee will provide useful information for coalition forces.
The defense contends Mowhoush died of complications from an enlarged heart.
The Oct. 12, 2003, memo made no reference to stress positions, the CIA agent said. Anything not outlined in the memo required prior approval from Sanchez, according to the agent.
The agent testified that he was “alarmed” when Welshofer told him he thought he was violating the rules, but the agent did not report the incident to anyone.
“You did not report that to anyone in the CIA until later?” defense attorney Frank Spinner asked the agent, then quickly apologized to the court for revealing the identity of the agency.
In other testimony, Gerold Pratt, a member of the Utah National Guard, said that before Mowhoush’s death, Welshofer had used the sleeping bag technique on another detainee, who lost consciousness.
Pratt said he was present at a meeting when Welshofer said that only he and Sgt. Justin Lamb could use the sleeping bag during interrogations because the technique is dangerous.
Spinner, trying to attack Pratt’s credibility, asked: “You wrote the president of the United States and said you knew where weapons of mass destruction were held?”
“Yes,” Pratt answered.
Much of the trial Wednesday centered on a motion filed by The Denver Post, the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Associated Press asking Col. Mark Toole, the military judge, to reconsider a Jan. 5 order released Wednesday that called for closure of the entire testimony of two witnesses.
Attorney Steve Zansberg argued that closing the court-martial to the public “should be cautiously exercised” and “requires the use of a scalpel approach, not an ax.” He said the issues at stake in the Welshofer trial were more about national integrity than national security.
Toole amended his Jan. 5 order and allowed the CIA agent to give part of his testimony in public, behind the green curtain. The judge did not change his ruling on a second witness, whose testimony was completed Wednesday in closed court.
Zansberg said after the ruling: “I’m encouraged and pleased that the court did take our motion for reconsideration seriously. … The benefit of the public trial is that the public can hold the participants in the judicial process accountable and whenever a portion of the proceedings is closed, that checking function is lost. Here, we’re talking about the conduct of government agents and the need for public scrutiny is all the greater.”
Also Wednesday, Spinner asked for a mistrial after an Army investigator revealed that Welshofer would not talk to him on the advice of his attorney. The judge denied the motion.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
